Parts of a Skateboard

Background

Table of Contents

A skateboard is a small piece of wood with four feels attached to the bottom. The deck of the skateboard is made into the shape of a surfboard. A single person rides the skateboard, controlling the movement using their feet. Skateboards can be used as transportation, and/or to perform stunts. Skateboards consist of three main components including the deck (the actual board), the truck (a component usually made of metal that holds the wheels to the deck), and the wheels. Hardware such as screws and bolts are used to put all the different parts of a skateboard together. The size of the average skateboard deck is about 32 in (81.3 cm) lin length, 8 in (20.3 cm) in width, and a little less than 0.5 in (1.3 cm) in thickness. The front of the deck is called the nose and the back is called the tail, along with a concave in the middle. The wheels of skateboards are usually made of polyurethane and vary in width from about 1.3-1.5 in (3.3-3.8 cm). Although nearly all skateboards possess similar shapes and characteristics, their dimensions vary according to use. There are skateboards built for speed, street, and freestyle.Here is a diagram of the basic components of a skateboard:

Raw Materials

Most skateboard decks are made using glue and wood (usually maple). They are almost always decorated by screen-printing creative designs on the bottom of the board. The trucks of skateboards are usually made of aluminum or other metal (steel, brass, or another alloy), while the wheels are made from polyurethane (a synthetic rubber polymer). While there are low-end skateboards, which are assembled by manufacturers, all components are sold separately to consumers who want to personally customize their own board. To assemble a skateboard successful, the consumer needs ball bearings for the wheels (usually full precision and made of metal) and a piece of grip tape for the deck. Grip tape looks like a piece of sandpaper and covers the top of the deck to provide traction for the skater.

Design

Skateboard decks, trucks, and wheels have different designs based on the skateboarder's preferences and how the board is going to be used. Decks have different angles of concavity, and shapes for the nose and tail. Manufacturers produce their own boards with their own signature styling. Manufactures use templates to produce their design on the shape of the skateboard. Companies that make decks and wheels also stylize their boards with individual art designs. Most artwork is created on computer; however, some are also done by hand.

http://www.ubergood.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/flickr_skate.jpg

Putting a skateboard together:

This video will show you steps by step on how to put together the components of a skateboard: